Always Have, Always Will
by SkyBlueSky
Summary: It's Ryoma's Wedding and You're Invited!


Ryoma Echizen was standing, dressed in his best white suit and shiny red tie. He was waiting, and for the first time in his life, he liked it.  
He liked the solemnness of the place; he liked how the crowd turned their heads toward the big door when they saw the white-veiled woman.  
And yes, he very much liked the white-veiled woman.

As she was walking down the aisle, he noticed how well her body has shaped through the years.  
She certainly was not fat and she was not stick thin either. She was just right. Her hips were wide, her bust was not just fine, and it is good. It is very good. Her skin is creamy, soft and silky. What's not to like about her?  
The only thing that bothered Ryoma was her clumsiness at times and being too kind that she almost always get taken advantage of. And her sense of direction, or lack of it, is also troublesome but he finds her quirky ways adorable, more or less.

And as the girl with her face covered by the white veil came to Ryoma together with her dad,  
Ryoma could not help showing his pearly whites and making some of his fans inside the church teary-eyed.

"Take care of my daughter and treat her well." Said Mr. Ryuzaki then he handed the bride to the groom.

"Yes of course, father." Ryoma replied and the two smiled in agreement.

As the ceremony was going on, he couldn't help reminiscing about their 12-year old days.  
How he has always been her knight in shining armor. He smirked at the thought.  
How he finds her attractive in more ways than one as he counted the little things that made him fall for her.

He looked at her.

Even though her face was covered by a veil, it was evident that her cheeks were flushed and she was smiling nervously.  
Her hair was nicely made up into a bun covered by a tiara.  
He admired her shapely smooth legs and he was somehow disappointed when he found out days earlier that she will not be wearing a just below the knee-dress. He took another glance at her.  
The gown wasn't bad. In fact it made her beautifully ethereal. The fishtail gown showed her curves perfectly and her chest bone looked so nice he couldn't wait for the wedding night.

He remembered how one day, he woke up and realized that he truly loved Sakuno and how he tried so hard not to show it to the regulars and his classmates. He always got mentally angry at any man who tried to woo Sakuno and he of course would challenge each guy to a tennis match and win 7 games straight. Even Fuji-senpai tried to feign interest over dear Saku-chan just to get Ryoma to challenge him and because of the little entertainment he got from it. Of course Ryoma would know and he would watch over Sakuno to guard her from the flirting beings trying to get her, namely, most of the guys in the tennis club.

They were in 2nd year high school at Seishun when they kissed, accidentally because Eiji has pushed her onto him while they were lining up for the registration of the new batch of tennis club officers, with both Ryoma and Sakuno being the vice-captains of the boys and girls tennis club respectively.

Sakuno started avoiding him for the next few days and Ryoma got mad at Eiji.  
Ryoma, while having a break from beating his Eiji-senpai in tennis, saw a crying Sakuno under a shady tree near those very courts outside the school.  
He tried to make her stop crying and thought, _Was my kiss really that bad that she couldn't help crying because of it?_

"Did my breath stink?" he asked her.

"…"

"Ryuzaki. I'm sorry if you hated the kiss but if I'm going to make you my girlfriend because I like you, you have to put up with it alright? Or else I'm not going to show you my sorry face ever again in my life. Ever. So can you please stop crying?"

Ryuzaki cried more as a reply. They were officially dating after that.

While into the relationship, Ryoma changed a lot.  
He was not the dense little brat anymore. He had become the humorous gentleman everybody wants to be with.  
He has become more eloquent and his tennis style has improved although his cool demeanor and signature smirk never faltered.

He glanced at the crowd. They were all wearing western-styled clothing, even his father.

Somehow, when Ryoma had gotten himself his very first girlfriend, his relationship with his father has also gotten better. Nanjiroh will sometimes give him money to pay for their dates or to buy her clothes and Ryoma would take it and spend the money on her and not a single penny would be left for him. He would walk her home and kiss her goodbye and the old Ryuzaki-sensei then suddenly comes out of the house and interrupts them. Ryoma will run back to his house once the old woman started shouting.

He would see Horio by the courts on the way and Horio will brag about his 7 years tennis experience at him. Ryoma has since known that Horio has a thing for his girlfriend and Ryoma would remember it every single time he played with Horio which would cause him to forget to go easy on the guy and winning 6-0 in every chance he could get.

He glanced at Horio, sitting beside Tomoka and was glad for the two's newfound relationship aside from yelling at each other. And even though Ryoma doesn't show it, he is very much thankful that Horio is Horio. It was the right time when Horio started meddling about Ryoma's insensitivity to Sakuno when he decided to abruptly end their relationship because of his budding tennis career abroad. That was last year and the couple has been dating for a little over four years already.

The break-up greatly affected Ryoma's playing and he became grouchy and irritable.  
Horio challenged him to play against him, stating that if Ryoma wins, Horio will completely give up on Sakuno but if Horio wins, he will court her with the intent of making her his wife.

Ryoma somehow treated this as a wake-up call and played with all his might especially now that Horio already has 11 braggin- I mean tennis- experience.

Unbeknownst to the tennis prince, Horio invited Sakuno to watch the game, and she hid behind the trees hating herself for being too shy and afraid of the love of her life, who dumped her 3 days ago because he chose his career over her.

The game ended with Ryoma winning at 6-3 and he immediately went out of the courts to find Sakuno.  
The girl was crying, at the very tree where he has confessed his feelings to her 4 years ago. He hugged her from behind as he found her there and offered his hanky to her.

"Go away Ryoma! You're making it harder for me to move on."

"Then don't move on." He whispered to her ear.

"You really are a selfish jerk Ryoma Echizen! First, you made me fall in love with you, and then you asked me to forget about you when things are still good between us and now this?"

"Yes I'm a jerk. And I will be, always, until the day I die. Learn to put up with it like you've put up with my kisses because you're gonna be spending the rest of your life with me."

"What?..."

"I love you. It's as simple as that. No need for explanations. I thought that I can live even without you by my side but I guess a smartass like me could be wrong sometimes."

She looked at him, her eyes nearly swollen from crying, her face was flushed and covered in tears while her hair was a mess.

_Look at you, even though you look so tired because of me, you are still beautiful. _ He thought.

Ryoma brought out the ring he bought when they were still in their first month of dating. He hesitated giving it to her and just kept it in his wallet for fear that Sakuno might think of him as a possessive and bothersome boyfriend.

"Will you marry me, Sakuno Ryuzaki?"

He was already in front of her on his knees and sweat was building up on his forehead and at the back of his shirt.

"Is this for real?" She asked.

"Again. Will you, Sakuno Ryuzaki, marry me?" he repeated.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!" Sakuno replied, grinning now.

"Ryoma-kun?" The crowd was silent.

"I repeat." Said the minister.

"Do you, Ryoma, take Sakuno to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to cherish, to have and to hold; and do you promise, forsaking all others, to cleave to her and her alone, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

Sakuno smiled at Ryoma and he held her hand.

The minister turned to Sakuno.

"Do you, Sakuno, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love and to cherish, to have and to hold; and do you promise, forsaking all others, to cleave to him and to him alone, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do.""

"By virtue of authority vested in me, I pronounce that you are Husband and Wife.

The minister turned to Ryoma.

"You may kiss the Bride."

Ryoma at once lifted Sakuno's veil and thought that her face was stunning.

"You're beautiful. I made the right choice ne, Mrs. Echizen?"

Sakuno replied a blushing bride's smile.

The two kissed a hearty 'You're Mine' type of kiss and it lasted for about a minute.

The whole crowd cheered, yelled and whistled.

"There's still the reception to take care of Ryoma-san." Katsuo shouted to Ryoma with the standard teardrop on his head.

"And there's the wedding night after." Said Kato

At last the couple parted and Sakuno threw her bouquet to a group of ladies composed mainly of middle-aged relatives.

The regulars were surprised to see coach Sumire in there too.

"What? Aren't we all deserving of love? " The coach said with a wink.

The Calla Lily bouquet Sakuno tossed has magically fallen on Tachibana Ann's lap even though she was not aiming for it.

"Momo-senpai, you're next." Ryoma said with a smirk.

Momoshiro held his girlfriend's hand.

"What about it Ann?" he asked as he brought out a ring inside a red velvet box.

"Umm…I'll think about it." She replied.

"Poor Momo." Eiji Said.

"We're poorer." Taka said. "Look at us. We are the oldest in our batch of regulars, and the youngest ones already had the better ones."

"Well then team. Let's go get ourselves girlfriends this time." Commanded Tezuka.

The regulars and most of the tennis club members present fell silent, surprised at what their reserved ex-captain has said.

"Alright! Yosh!" Oishi seconded.

The other single guys followed suit.

Meanwhile on the otherside of the church…

"Sakuno-chan!" Cried Tomoka as she went up to her best friend and embraced her tightly.

"Sakuno, don't you dare forget me. Always call me whenever you feel like it. Keep me up to date with your new life living abroad. " she added.

"Tomo-chan. I'll never forget you. Thanks for being my best friend." Sakuno replied.

Rinko went to hug her son and wiped her tears.  
"I'm proud of you Ryoma. I wish the two of you well. "

Ryoga shook Ryoma's hand. "Little bro's a man now huh?"

"Thanks. " Ryoma replied. He opened his hand. Out came Ryoga's business card.

"I'll roll up in LA when you need me 'kay lil bro?"

Ryoma nodded as response.

"Where's uncle?" Nanako asked as she was finished saying her wishes and good cheers to her cousin.

The whole family looked at Nanjiroh in front of the altar who obviously flirted with Shiba who was busy taking his photograph together with his daughter-in-law.

"Nanjiroh!" Rinko roared.

The wedding car prepared to ignite as the bridegroom waved their goodbyes to the guests.

Ryoma carried her like a princess as they approached the car.

"Ryoma-kun aishiteru…" Sakuno murmured on Ryoma's ear."

Ryoma smirked. "Let's ditch the reception, ne Saa-chan?"

Sakuno giggled.

Behind the car, in big letters, were sprawled. "JUST GOT MARRIED!"  
and a silhouette that showed the couple kissing non-stop.

"That's my boy." Nanjiroh happily whispered to himself.

* * *

SBS: So how was that guys? It has been so long since I've made a fanfic.

Don't forget to click the review button :D.

Thanks for the time! .


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